Channing Tatum freaks out over meeting Simone Biles on ‘Ellen’

Ellen DeGeneres premiered the fourteenth season of her talk show ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ on Tuesday, September 6, with special appearances from guests Channing Tatum, Simone Biles, and Oprah Winfrey.

The highlights of the afternoon included a candidly excited Tatum expecting to meet the renowned gymnast Simone Biles. Biles made her first appearance on ‘Ellen’ after winning four gold medals and one bronze medal during the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro back in August.

Ellen herself returned to her show after a busy summer. The comedian and host made the rounds during the season when the Pixar animated film ‘Finding Dory’ premiered and became the highest-grossing opening in its category in the U.S. DeGeneres provides the voice acting for the main character Dory on the ‘Finding Nemo’ sequel.

Channing Tatum is a huge fan of Simone Biles

Ellen DeGeneres had Channing Tatum over to promote his upcoming ‘Magic Mike Live’ show in Las Vegas, but the actor had other things in mind.

When asked if he had met the Olympian gold-medalist Simone Biles backstage, the ’21 Jump Street’ star immediately replied that he hadn’t but that he wanted to. Tatum even bet Ellen that he would “freak out” more over meeting Biles than Biles herself over meeting him.

The actor said that he had watched every single performance by the gymnast and the U.S. gymnastics team. He also had some unique thoughts about Simone Biles’ gymnastic abilities, which he shared with an amused ‘Ellen’ audience and a confused Ellen.

“My theory is that she’s so tiny, she has a harder time holding on the ground than just going up. Because of she just, I don’t know, she’s always flying away. I think she’s got inflexible toes, and that helps her hold on to the ground,” Tatum explained.

While the audience does not know if Channing Tatum shared his theory with the laureate athlete, he got his chance to meet her live on stage after posing as a trophy case and holding all four of her Olympic gold medals.

Following an interview to promote her book ‘Courage to Soar,’ Simone Biles joined Ellen to meet Tatum. The 36-year-old ‘Magic Mike’ star could not contain his joy as he met the 19-year-old Olympic champion, and Ellen captured the moment with a selfie in which all three wore Biles’ medals.

Channing Tatum gives the ‘Ellen’ crowd a sneak-peak of Magic Mike Live

The audience was in for a couple more surprises in the first ‘Ellen’ episode of the season, as Tatum presented an exclusive preview performance by the ‘Magic Mike Live’ cast lives on the show. At the end of the afternoon, Ellen wrapped up by revealing that all those in the audience got free tickets for the upcoming premiere of ‘Magic Mike Live’ in Las Vegas.

‘Courage to Soar,’ the Simone Biles autobiography, goes on sale at libraries nationwide on November 15, while ‘Magic Mike Live’ debuts at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada in March 2017.